'''Carmarthen''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|k|ər|ˈ|m|ɑːr|ð|ən}}, {{small|local:}} {{IPAc-en|k|ɑːr|-}}; {{lang-cy|Caerfyrddin}} {{IPA-|cy|kairˈvərðɪn|}}, "[[Merlin]]'s fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the [[county town]] of [[Carmarthenshire]] and a [[community (Wales)|community]] in [[Wales]], lying on the [[River Towy]] {{convert|8|mi}} north of its estuary in [[Carmarthen Bay]].<ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Carmarthen}}</ref><ref name="Paxton">{{Cite book |last=Paxton |first=John |title=The Penguin Encyclopedia of Places |year=1999 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-051275-6 |page=174}}</ref> The population was 14,185 in 2011, down from 15,854 in 2001,<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS01 Usual resident population: Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=8271&Pos=2&ColRank=1&Rank=224 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=30 August 2010}}</ref> but gauged at 16,285 in 2019.<ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/wales/ City Population site. Retrieved 3 December 2020.]</ref> It has a claim to be the oldest town in Wales – ''Old Carmarthen'' and ''New Carmarthen'' became one borough in 1546.<ref name="Jenkins">{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author2=Jenkins, Nigel |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff|page=123 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref> It was the most populous borough in Wales in the 16th–18th centuries, described by [[William Camden]] as "chief citie of the country". Growth stagnated by the mid-19th century as new settlements developed in the [[South Wales Coalfield]].<ref name="Jenkins"/>
